Protecting His Wolfe (3 page)

She looked frantically for a way to
escape the oncoming car.
Where could she
go?
Seeing a large maple tree near the curb, Betsie hid behind the tree,
knowing that if the car tried to hit her, it’d be damaged from the impact with
the tree.

Hyperventilating from fear, she heard
another loud engine sound coming from behind her. Glancing behind her, she
noticed Jonah’s tan sedan coming toward her and blocked the black car from
getting any closer to her. The black sports car swerved quickly to avoid
hitting the sedan and with a squeal of tires sped off down the street.

Jonah slammed his car in park and
jumped out, grabbed Betsie and pulled her close. “What the hell were you doing
walking home? I said I was picking you up.”

Betsie fainted from shock, hitting
her head on the sidewalk as she fell. Jonah picked her up in his arms and
cradled her against his chest.

Thank goodness I got here in time.
 
My little wolf is getting into trouble lately. My?
 
Did he really think of her as his?
 
His feelings for this little pixie were strong. He couldn’t
believe that he’d only met her yesterday and already he wanted nothing more
than to protect her from the cruel world.

It’s obvious that someone wants her dead.
This
has to do with Johnny’s death.
But why?
What does she
know? What did she see?

Kissing her forehead, Jonah decided
that she needed someone to watch over her. But he was working on the case; he
couldn’t be with her twenty-four-seven. Then a thought came into his head… he
had the perfect people to watch over her.

Betsie’s eyes fluttered.
 
A soft moan escaped her lips.
 

Waking up in a Jonah’s arms could become a craving
, Betsie thought. “Thank you for
coming to my rescue. You’re like a knight in shining armor. I thought I was
going to die. Ouch, my head hurts. I think I must have hit it when I fainted.”

Checking the bump on her head and with
his temper barely in check, Jonah responded, “It looks like a minor bump, are
you dizzy? I told you that I would pick you up. Why were you walking home?”

“I didn’t see you when I left work,
so I thought you’d forgotten. I never dreamed that this would happen.” Tears
filled her eyes. “I’m not dizzy just feeling horribly frightened and like an
idiot for fainting.”

Jonah wanted nothing more than to
take away her pain and fear. “I think that this is all related to Johnny’s
death. The police have been watching Anderson Trucking for a while because of a
suspicion that something strange was going on there. You seem to be a target and
I can’t be with you every moment of the day but I do have two people that I trust
with my life who can. They’re my brothers, Marcus and Luke. They used to work
for the police department but started their own private detective office with
me as their silent partner. They can watch over you.”

“But Jonah, I really don’t want to
have someone else interfering with my life. I like being independent, doing
what I want when I want. Having two guys shadowing me and living with me will
be uncomfortable for me.”

“I know that this wasn’t a random
attempt on your life and they won’t stop until you end up like Johnny. So humor
me. Besides, I’d rather that you move into our home so we can protect you
better. We’ve plenty of room and the best security system.”

Knowing that she was in over her
head, Betsie agreed.

Chapter Five

After helping her pack up her
belongings, Betsie’s frustration had turned to resignation. She couldn’t have
four people living in her apartment but she really hated relying on others.
What if they didn’t have the tea she liked
to drink when her throat was sore?
 
What
if she needed that extra blanket that she kept in the box at the end of her bed
for when she was cold?
It felt too permanent to be leaving her home.
 
It wasn’t as if she was going on a vacation. She
was being forced to leave her home because someone was trying to kill her. With
that thought, a chill went down her spine.

On the drive to Jonah’s house, he
tried to regale her with stories of his brothers’ antics from their youth. Marcus
was the joker in the family and loved nothing more than to tease his brothers. He
was always setting up practical jokes for them to fall for. Luke was the
serious one who shared a passion for justice just like Jonah.

Hearing about his brothers, Betsie
learned more about Jonah too, like how he felt that he had to take care of his
brothers since the death of their parents in a car accident when Jonah was only
twenty-one. And that it was because of this tragedy that all three boys entered
the police academy to make a difference in the world. By the time they’d
arrived at his house, Betsie felt that she knew both brothers’ personalities
and could tell that Jonah loved and respected them both.

As the car slowed in front of Jonah’s
house, Betsie took in the details of the two-story home with a beautiful front
porch. The house looked inviting with ferns hanging from the porch. Parking in
the driveway, Jonah helped Betsie out of the car. “I’ll come back to get your
things in a moment. I want to introduce you to my brothers and show you around
first.” he said, nervously.

The front door of the house was
ornate with stained glass in an art deco style. A wide and
accommodating
 
entryway
was adorned with a small
cherry table where keys and gloves littered the table top. Sitting in the
living room were two men who bore a strong resemblance to Jonah. They stood as
she entered the room, and gave her a smile. Both men had dark hair like Jonah’s
but one wore his hair short in a buzz cut, the other had longer hair that
trailed down his back which he pulled back in a ponytail. Each man had Jonah’s
blue eyes, yet one of the brothers had more laugh lines around his eyes and
mouth.
That must be Marcus,
she
thought.
 
He looks like he doesn’t take life too seriously.
The other man
looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. But his large
shoulders looked like they could handle it. It’s obvious that he worked out a
lot. His body was built like a brick wall.

“Betsie, these are my brothers,
Marcus and Luke.”

“Pleased to meet
both of you.
Jonah’s
told me a little about you. Thank you for your help. I don’t want to be an
inconvenience.”

“I’m Marcus. Jonah didn’t tell us
that you were so beautiful. Now I can see why he’s so protective of you.”

“And that makes me Luke. Don’t worry
Betsie, we’ll protect you. No one will harm you with the Pigg brothers
protecting you.”

“Now that you have
finished introducing yourselves and not scaring her away with your teasing,
Marcus.
Why don’t
you go gather her boxes of things from the car? Make yourselves useful while I
show Betsie around.” Marcus shoved Luke in front of him and out the door.

With his hand on the small of her
back, he led her around the living room to the stairway.
 
The warm feeling from Jonah’s hand had
Betsie’s face turning pink. She forgot to breathe for a minute thinking about
Jonah’s hands on other parts of her body.
He’s
got such strong, large hands. Yet he’s so gentle with me.

Betsie could see the strong influence
of the three men in the designs of the house. Looking like an effort had been
made to at least clean the place, Betsie smiled as she walked with Jonah. It
was apparent that he was very proud of his home.

Walking up the stairs, pictures of
smiling families and precocious boys lined the wall. Pausing to admire a photo
of the three boys of around early teens, Betsie stopped on the stairs. “Jonah,
this picture’s so cute. It must have been wonderful growing up in such a close
family. I know you said that you lost your parents and had to take care of your
brothers, but look at the love evident in your eyes. My sister hardly has time
to even check in with me. Growing up, we competed more than supported.”

“Yea, we loved to challenge each
other to different things, but whenever something happened, we all had each
other’s back. No one was going to hurt my family without paying for it. I guess
that’s why I went into police work, having had to deal with the death of our
parents. Let’s get you settled into your room.”

Down the hall at the top of the
stairs, Jonah drew Betsie into the last bedroom in the hallway. “This is my
room, but I’m going to be bunking with my brother, Luke while you are here.
Make yourself at home. The bathroom is right across the hall and clean towels
are under the sink.”

“Aw, Jonah.
 
I’m sorry that you had to give up your room.” said Betsie but secretly
in her heart, she was happy to be sleeping in Jonah’s bed. Having dated only a
few men, and being a preacher’s daughter, she didn’t have a lot of carnal
knowledge about men. But Jonah made her feel things that she hadn’t felt
before. She wanted to feel if his lips were as soft as they looked and if he
tasted as good as he smelled.

“Don’t worry. Being the last room in
the hall gives it some protection so that if anyone were to get into the house,
they would’ve had to get by all three of us in order to reach you.
Besides, I sort of like you in my room.”

Blushing, Betsie didn’t know what to
say to that since his thoughts echoed her own. She took a good look around the
room. A king sized bed dominated the room. However, other than the bed, and
desk, the only furniture was a comfy looking chair by the window. Above the
desk was a shelf filled with awards and medals for sports, while more smiling
photos of the Pigg family sat on the desk.

Grabbing Betsie’s hand, Jonah pulled
her out into the hallway.
 
“I’ll have my
brothers bring your boxes and suitcase up later so you can get unpacked. You’ve
seen the living room and my room, now I want to show you the kitchen. It’s my
favorite room in the house.”

Heading back down the stairs, through
the living room and toward the back of the house, Jonah held her hand the whole
way. When she got a look at the kitchen, Betsie’s eyes grew wide. She didn’t
expect that a bachelors’ home would have such a fully equipped kitchen. The
kitchen was beautiful with black granite countertops and stainless steel
appliances. The cupboards were distressed to look old but the rest of the
kitchen shined like it was brand spanking new.

She watched in awe as Jonah went
through each and every cupboard to show her where things were found. He even
went so far as to open the oven and refrigerator. There was a ton of food
available, everything that anyone could ever desire. “This is my favorite room
because of the food.
Us
, Pigg men, love to eat! And
after coming home from the station, I don’t want to have to run to the store,
so we always make sure that there is plenty of food in the house.”

Not wanting to embarrass Jonah,
Betsie covered her mouth to hide her laughter but her eyes were a dead
giveaway. Jonah loved looking at the way her lavender eyes lit up when she smiled.
Laughter had a way of animating her face, making it come to life like the
difference between a painting and a movie.
 
“Hey, don’t laugh at me,” he said with mock irritation, then bent down
and kissed her lips lightly. “That’ll teach you to laugh at me. Let’s go sit
down and we can go over your new routine.”

Listening to the Pigg boys talk about
lookouts, transportation details, and protection was like watching three little
bears play on the carpet. It was obvious that everyone’s opinions mattered. They
all brought something to the conversation but argued the different points
without care for egos. After hashing out what they thought was the best plan,
they presented it to Betsie.

“I’ll be the one to drive you to and
from work each day,” Marcus explained.
 
“I’m going to wait outside your office all day. Don’t worry, you won’t
see me. But I’m there just in case you need me, or get the idea to leave early
or later. This’ll allow Jonah to continue to work on the case at the station
and not worry about you becoming a road pancake.”

“Since he has the day duty and
transportation, I’ll be the night watch,” Luke replied.
 
“My job will be to watch the house during the
night hours and take care of anything that seems suspicious. I’ll be sleeping
when you are at work, Betsie, so I can be fresh for the night.”

“And my job other than continuing to
work on who’s behind this murder, I’m going to be here each evening to keep my
brothers from boring you to tears!” stated Jonah with a grin. “But if we
haven’t made it clear, you don’t get to leave this house without one of us. We
want to make sure that this guy makes another attempt on your life. It also
would be best if you didn’t tell anyone that you’re here under protection. We
wouldn’t want people to think we do this for everyone.”

“Naw, only the pretty ones get this
protection, right Jonah?” Marcus teased.